A life in progress

This morning, Mike and I are starting to take care of some of the little details for our next adventure -- hunting for camera chargers, talking about packing lists, and other things we can take care of a few days before we go; we'll go out this afternoon and pick up a few things - as it's probably the last opportunity we have to go out together before our flight Friday morning.  I even took the plunge, and against my frugal nature paid for the "economy plus" upgrades for our flight to Beijing.  Our flight home isn't very full yet, so I moved us to a window/aisle seat with a empty center seat between us, in hopes that either a) it won't fill up or b) if it does fill up the person in the seat will move to another empty seat.  I don't love long haul air travel, but I can deal with it.  Mike, on the other hand, at 6'2", finds it uncomfortable in the best of situations.  He's still trying to wrap his mind around a 10+ hour flight.  At the very leas...

I haven't posted for a while, largely because my internet access in Berlin left a lot to be desired.  I blame communism.  That is probably not the problem, but that is what I blame.  :) Rather than spend a lot of time going over the ins and outs of my last few weeks in Europe, I'l start with another how-to (in my opinion).  I found my European summer was, for the most part, very affordable.  And many of you are thinking "yeah, right".  But I'm serious... here are a few of my take aways for how to afford your own summer in Europe. 1.  Choose one destination and live in it.  Aside from airline tickets, housing will be your biggest expense.  Over the years, I have learned that apartments or vacation homes are much cheaper than hotels for a lengthy stay.  For a day or two, there's no real difference.  For more than 3 days, an apartment will generally save you money, especially if you are traveling with friends or family.  My Fr...

When we first came to Germany about 2 weeks ago, it was miserable.  I was hot and tired and couldn't figure out how the public transportation worked.  It lacked the mystique of France while managing to be incredibly confusing at the same time.  It did not help that I wasn't particularly prepared for the German leg of my journey.  I hadn't studied maps, or worked out the public transportation, or even bothered to learn any German.  All of these things are my fault.  Germany is not to blame:  it simply went on being the same country it had been for the past decades. There are some things that Germany could do better, but they are not meant as affronts to me personally.  I'd like to see more air conditioning.  I would like to see better internet connections.  I would like the public transportation to be connected.  As it is, I have to leave one station and walk a block to transfer to another line.  This is irritating. Fortunat...